Cavs and Beilein Discussing Parting Ways
I’m excited for the Howard era but have to wonder what would have been. Beilein must be kicking himself.
February 16th, 2020 at 11:06 PM ^
Dammit Brian's John Beilein: Indiana Coach prophecy is coming true.
February 16th, 2020 at 11:27 PM ^
This was a genius - level prophecy. Please be wrong ?
February 17th, 2020 at 12:17 AM ^
John Beilein is 67 years old. And the issues that led to him leaving the Michigan job still persist in NCAA basketball. I don't see him as a candidate at any blue blood program like Indiana.
February 17th, 2020 at 4:16 AM ^
If he's anything like Larry Brown he's got at least another 12 years.
February 17th, 2020 at 7:38 AM ^
I don't see it. He's too old to rebuild a program. And the Cavs gig was a colossal failure. Brown succeeded everywhere he went. Larry Brown was used to transition. He changed jobs more than Pitino banged hookers.
February 17th, 2020 at 9:40 AM ^
That's a lot of job changin'
February 17th, 2020 at 7:44 AM ^
Part of me wonders if he might ease into retirement at a smaller school. Seems like his annoyance with college was recruiting top prospects and getting good players to stay. If he likes being a coach, I could see him ending up at a smaller D1 program where those two things aren't as big an issue. Maybe one back in WNY if he wants to retire near home? Hard to say though. I never would've though he'd leave Michigan for the Cavs so I don't know what he'll do
February 17th, 2020 at 2:07 PM ^
Well if he wants to try the next new challenge he could join Juwan as an assistant. I think I've heard he's never done that before.
February 17th, 2020 at 8:07 AM ^
You do realize that 3 of the 4 leading candidates to the 4-year term of President of the US are all over 75 years old and that job pays much less than Indiana will offer.
February 17th, 2020 at 8:49 AM ^
Kind of wild when you think about it, right? Don't want to get political here at all but it is a little crazy when you think how old the current president is then add biden, bloom, and bern to the list that's an old ass crew starting a new job that I would imagine would be so stressful you'd want your head to explode to ease the pain. Plus, add to that the money really has no factor as it's rather low compared to how much the candidates have.
February 17th, 2020 at 8:59 AM ^
70 is the new 60!!
February 17th, 2020 at 11:25 AM ^
And Warren is just a few years younger than those you named.
February 17th, 2020 at 9:21 AM ^
Have you sees how much money Presidents make after they leave office (b/c it's substantially more than the Indiana job offers....)?
February 17th, 2020 at 10:25 AM ^
TBF, recent presidents have made that kind of money while in office.
February 17th, 2020 at 9:54 AM ^
Yes, but if he coached Indiana, he wouldn't be able to eat Big Macs, watch Fox News and tweet all day.
February 17th, 2020 at 10:46 AM ^
had to log in to upvote this one
February 17th, 2020 at 2:46 PM ^
Judging by Sunday, maybe that is what their coach is doing.
February 17th, 2020 at 11:05 AM ^
The Oval Office will be nuts crazy with subs and bottled water fights. We negotiqted peace between Israel and Palestine! It was crazy! We had subs!
February 17th, 2020 at 1:40 PM ^
John Beilein is a career coach. Coaching is what he does. He's succeeded at high major and became disgusted with the recruiting and the ethics. He doesn't need money. So I can see him retiring to wherever he wants to live and coaching high school kids. Would be a great thing to see.
February 17th, 2020 at 3:51 PM ^
This was the exact thought I had. Money isn’t a problem for him. He could easily go work with his son or just enjoy coaching high school kids and fade into retirement
February 17th, 2020 at 2:44 PM ^
I'd enjoy my golden years on what I'd have to assume is a nice best egg and find other means to stay motivated and busy with less stress and pressure that a D1 or NBA HC position demands.
February 16th, 2020 at 11:49 PM ^
And this comes on the day Howard may have twisted the knife on the Archie Miller era.
When first prophesied, I figured no way Indiana hires a 67-year old with probably three years to give, four tops. But now? Mayyybe they do.
February 16th, 2020 at 11:53 PM ^
It's not going to happen. Archie Miller has a giant buyout that all but guarantees him a fourth year at IU.
Some other college program might be interested, but I think it's more likely that Beilein - who had heart surgery not that long ago, remember - is just going to retire.
February 16th, 2020 at 11:59 PM ^
buyouts are meaningless. IU has plenty of boosters. if Beilein indicated he would entertain an offer from IU they would shank Archie before you can say candy stripes
February 17th, 2020 at 12:12 AM ^
If you take a look at the IU blogs, the issue of the buyout comes up again and again. This isn't a school with a 100,000-seat football stadium that is always sold out. Not every school is in our financial position, even with Big Ten money.
Donors are wild cards. Some are probably invested in seeing Miller succeed. It's not guaranteed that they'll all step up to the plate if Miller is fired. And really, why would they want to go all-in for a coach of Beilein's age? If you want long-term stability, he's not the guy to go for.
February 17th, 2020 at 1:00 AM ^
Good God, of course the buyout comes up. These people tracked Tom Crean's buyout religiously. That's what IU blogs do. That and speculate about Brad Stevens.
That said, I assume they wait one more year, and then chase Alford.
February 17th, 2020 at 6:31 AM ^
They have Mark Cuban. Buyout is not an issue
February 17th, 2020 at 9:21 AM ^
Those things are true, but the B10 also hands out dump trucks full of cash to member schools each year. If they think it's in their interest, I don't think the buyout would be a deal breaker. Just my opinion, of course.
February 17th, 2020 at 12:18 AM ^
As much as I love Beilein, I think IU would be nuts to go after him, and vice versa. He always needs a few years to implement his system, and now that he's 67, he really doesn't have that time.
February 17th, 2020 at 9:48 AM ^
Nobody say candy stripes.
February 17th, 2020 at 12:03 AM ^
If Beilein left the Cavs job after a few seasons, for sure.
Maybe he wants to do the family and Cardinals games thing but I don't see JB leaving this disaster as his last taste of coaching.
February 17th, 2020 at 12:09 AM ^
It may not be all up to him. Beilein's health could be in question and there is also the matter of his son's personal issues.
February 17th, 2020 at 1:10 AM ^
I don't disagree. I would still bet on him not going to IU. But it's ticked up from a non-zero probability.
February 17th, 2020 at 2:03 PM ^
February 17th, 2020 at 11:28 AM ^
I would not be surprised if Izzo steps down after this season and MSU goes after Beilein. It feels like the Sparty thing to do.
February 17th, 2020 at 12:23 PM ^
Beilein and MSU - Clash of Cultures
February 16th, 2020 at 11:08 PM ^
I would hate to see him at another college team. I’m sure he’s regretting leaving Michigan right now. He took a gamble that doesn’t seem like it’s paying off.
February 16th, 2020 at 11:48 PM ^
I figured he was just taking a shot at the highest level before retiring. Would be surprised if he came back to the college game, but crazier things have certainly happened.
February 17th, 2020 at 9:46 AM ^
Agree with this. He left college because he was no longer enamored with college b-ball and the never ending work of recruiting. His failure at the nba level is unlikely to change his view or interest in Div 1 college b-ball.
February 17th, 2020 at 1:32 PM ^
Seems like if he truly just wants to kind of settle down, and ease into retirement, he should coach a lower division school or even a quality high school (although some of those parents....eeesh). I could see him taking a small D2 coaching job, but I have a hard time seeing him taking a smaller DI school given the success he's had and that it really wouldn't change many of the issues he was having with the NCAA. I could see him taking a high school job just if he wants something to do and to be around basketball, but really, no matter where he goes, assuming he is going to coach, he isn't going to be able to escape some of the things he hated about the NCAA. Wish him the best, but him leaving for the Cavs was an odd career move, but at least he gave it a shot.
February 16th, 2020 at 11:52 PM ^
If all the rumors about him being sick of recruiting and one and done players are true, then I do not see him coaching at a power 5 team. I really see him going to an Ivy school to prove that he can win there too.
February 17th, 2020 at 5:04 PM ^
That'd be kind of a great way to finish out his career if he still wanted to continue coaching. I think he'd really like the Ivy League atmosphere and I could see him fitting in really well there. Solid idea, it'd still be DI and he would have a chance to get into March Madness, but, overall, it'd be less recruiting, less emphasis on winning, wouldn't be dealing with the same level of recruits, it would be a really nice way to coach while also scaling back some of the things he hated about the NCAA.
February 16th, 2020 at 11:54 PM ^
The crazy thing is, how much of a gamble was it? Gambling usually involves chance. There was zero chance the Cavs wouldn't be horrible and there was zero chance he'd enjoy working with NBA players.
So it's crazy that somehow he's not happy collecting the paycheck and taking summers off which was the only reason this made any sense. And the Cavs can't really be unhappy since all they could have hoped for this year was to tank.
February 17th, 2020 at 5:56 AM ^
John Beilein isn't the type of guy who is content hanging out and collecting paychecks. That's the reason he's getting canned. His attempts to make the Cavs better are falling on deaf ears.
I'd guess that he takes a few months to recharge and then takes another high-major job. There will be no shortage of suitors.
February 17th, 2020 at 8:01 AM ^
Here's another take: Beilein seems very self-aware. I think he was done with college basketball and also that he was prepared for anything with Cleveland. I'm sure he would've preferred to leave a bigger mark on the Cavs, but he may not be despondent -- or even close -- about what actually happened.
February 16th, 2020 at 11:08 PM ^
I know there were some hard feelings about when he left, but I totally understand him trying to make it work in the NBA. I think Michigan was extremely lucky that they were able to get Juwan and land on it's feet. I hope JB is always welcomed with open arms at Michigan, this program would not be where it is without him.
February 16th, 2020 at 11:19 PM ^
I think in a lot of ways Howard has softened the blow and reduced hard feelings about Beilein. Beilein left us in a terrible place, but it ended up being somewhat of a blessing in disguise. I don't know that Howard will be the same level of coach Beilein was, but at best Beilein was going to stick around for about 5 more years and we would have had to move on anyway. And I highly doubt we would have gotten anyone better than Howard at least from his early returns.
February 16th, 2020 at 11:56 PM ^
Beilein didn't leave us in a terrible place. Our whole team was recruited by him. If Livers had stayed healthy, we'd probably be ranked in the top 15 (if not top 10) right now.
February 16th, 2020 at 11:59 PM ^
Hell, even without Livers for half of the season (mostly during B1G play) we are still #14 on KenPom.